Sunny Sacramento

David and Becca's baby Charlotte is so beautiful. I flew to Sacramento Friday Sept. 7 and stayed until Tuesday Sept. 11 with the hopes of helping them with their newborn. I didn't actually help them at all. Rather we just ate awesome food the entire time. And I mean AWESOME!

Starting her early as a Buckeye!

 On Friday, Becca picked me up from the airport and she made us a scallop, mango, and avocodo salad. It was light and refreshing and delicious!

Saturday we planned on going to Napa Valley to see a Vineyard but David was sick (he was pretty sick the entire time I was there - bummer!). However he was feeling up to us going to the Rice Bowl restaurant for Dim Sum. Wow! This was so incredible. The waitresses came by with carts filled with delectable dishes. I'm in love with Bao.  I have to find a place with Dim Sum here.

Becca, Charlotte, and Dave at Rice Bowl

Then Becca and I went to Joann Fabrics so I could buy fabric for a dress (more in this in a later post). Then we hit Bambu for bubble tea. I got a Pina Colada smoothie with bubbles (little tapioca like balls). It was fantastic however I wanted to be daring and try some weirder flavors next. For dinner we had Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches. These were pork sandwiches with pickled vegetables. The pickled vegetables made the sandwich delicious and kicked it up a notch!

On Sunday we packed everyone up to go to Napa Valley to the Robert Mondavi Vineyard. The Vineyard was beautiful with rows after rows of grapes and roses dotting the landscape. We got a tour that included 3 wine tastings. The only one I really liked was Moscato D'Oro.  For lunch we went to In-and-out Burger. I've never been there and was so excited to go to a fast food place I had never been. The burgers were a step above the usual fast food.

Me, Dave, Becca and Charlotte at the Vineyard

Grapes and Roses

After the Vineyard we went on the Jelly Belly factory tour. The Jelly Belly factory gives out tons of free samples of jelly beans, candy and fudge. Yum! Still love buttered popcorn the best. 

Babies don't need to wear funky hats I guess

 For dinner we ate Pho at Pho Bac Hoa Viet. I got beef pho and added yummy sriracha sauce to give it some kick. It was pho-tastic!  Then, because we hadn't eaten enough we got sushi from Banzai Sushi. Normally I get sushi from Kroger, the local grocery store. The sushi from this place was a lot better with flavorful sauces.

Me and my menu

Lunch on Monday was at Danielle's Creperie. You may think... crepes? That doesn't sound exciting. And you would be wrong. These crepes were interesting and fun. I had a karma crepe which was filled with Indian spices topped with mango chutney and cashews. I also got a bowl of scallop bisque with huge chunks of mushrooms in it. Then for dessert I had a dark chocolate crepe filled with fresh raspberries and served with vanilla ice cream.

For dinner Dave and Becca's friends came over and we ordered an assortment of takeout Chinese from Regent Chinese Restaurant. It was fun to try so many dishes and sample salted fish fried rice which David had previously raved about. I thought it just tasted like fried rice - which I like anyway. I ate two plates of food but that wasn't enough.

I told David I really wanted to try the weird bubble tea flavors so he went out and got us Durian, Jackfruit, and Avocodo Bubble tea smoothies. The durian smelled like stinky feet and tasted worse. We had to dump it out. The Jackfruit and Avocodo were pretty good. I was surprised the avocodo bubble tea was good (avocodo in a drink??) but it really was yummy.

I flew out on Tuesday probably about 10 pounds heavier.  The vacation was great fun and while I didn't help much with the baby, it gave me some time to just read, relax and eat a lot of fun food (and hold baby Charlotte to get my baby fix).  I really missed my family though. It was very hard to be away from them so long. Next time we go to Sacramento I want them all with me!

90 points on Quiddler today. It wouldn't let me use the word "vader". Why not?